The solution is surprisingly simple: replace the Wi-Fi card!

A solid replacement is the Intel Wireless-AC 9260, whose drivers aren’t (fully?) open source, but represent a significant improvement. That’s a trade-off you have to be willing to make, though in my view the benefits far outweigh the compromise. There are also newer Wi-Fi 6 alternatives like the Intel AX200 or AX210 in the same M.2 2230 form factor, though I haven’t tested these myself.

The connector end of the card isn’t identical, but you can safely ignore that – and importantly, the hardware kill switches typical of Purism devices still work.

Just make sure you plug the cables back into Main and AUX the same way they were before, and reattach the small sticker over the cables so they don’t touch the casing.

This should work with any laptop. To be safe, you can grab the Windows drivers from Intel beforehand.

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* Also listed under the model name Atheros QCNFA222

This post is part of my tutorials.